What fun it's been to host this week and ponder my favorite songs and performances! For my last day, I thought I'd look back to one of my earliest singer memories, one of the first pieces to leave a huge impression on me as a singer, and the first piece that got me...
written by
Sarah Nelson Craft
John Harbison: Mirabai Songs
What do you know, I'm finally featuring a non-mezzo! As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, pianist Alden Gatt and I decided to pair John Harbison's Mirabai Songs with Schumann's Frauenliebe und leben for our recent Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert. We liked the idea...
Robert Schumann: Süsser Freund
I have to feature the work that loomed largest for me this year, Robert Schumann's iconic Frauenliebe und leben. I finally learned it all and performed it after years of wanting to do so but never finding the time or the right venue to make myself just do it. The...
Joseph Canteloube: Baïlèro
I love that music can have the power to transport you to a place and put you right inside of a memory. There are certain pieces of music that I experienced in such a powerful way the first time I heard them that they bring back an incredibly strong emotional and...
G. F. Handel: As With Rosy Steps The Morn
With today's selection I'd like to pay homage to two of my favorite things: a favorite composer and a favorite singer who combine in the most wonderful way on this track. There's no singer I admire more than Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. She was everything I aspire to be...
Ellington: Heaven
I briefly considered continuing to worship at the altar of my mezzo-soprano idols as I have been doing here over the last several days (Oh, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Frederica Von Stade, don't think I have forgotten you!) And I was so close to featuring Handel, because...